Pages

Monday, April 22, 2013

I guess this post can be a continuation of my last one about
what makes a sketch a sketch. I didn’t mean for it to be. I had meant to do
some serious painting this weekend and in a way I did. I had two paintings I
wanted to work on but I realized I was not going to have enough time to get far
into either one of them. I feel a lot better about a project when I can get a
good start on it, I don’t know why that helps me to return to it the next day
but I wake up thinking about it. When I go about my day I look forward to
returning to it and I think about what I am going to do once I find myself in
front of the painting again.

When it became clear I wasn’t going to get a good jump on
either painting I pulled out a block of 140 lb. hot pressed watercolor paper, some
photos I had taken for reference and began to sketch. The sketch wound up being
the triple portrait above. Although I think the head on the right is a little too
large I like it enough to try it again on a portrait of my son. One portrait,
like one conversation, cannot sum up all of a person’s character so it would be
interesting to see how much I can tell about someone I know in three different
views in one painting (great, now I have another project to work on).

During the week I also went sketching out doors. Because I’m
sketching on my lunch break I really don’t have enough time to finish anything.
I do what I can, take several pictures with my digital camera and when I get
back to work I print the pictures. At home I finish up the sketch.

Friday, April 19, 2013

I have done some very serious drawing in my sketchbook, by
serious I’m not implying that the drawing was successful. Only that it was a serious
attempt at interpreting what my eyes see or an attempt at resolving a drawing
problem- proportion, perspective, values, etc. Or I just might be carried away
with the moment and bring the sketch to a degree of finish one might associate
with a finished piece and it just might wind up in a frame. A sketch can be
thinking, doodling or just pushing paint, pencil or ink in one direction or another.
Just having fun till some inspiration hits me. It could be the discipline of
just wanting to draw or paint daily till that inspiration hits me and it spring
boards into some larger work.

An artist sketchbook gives one the freedom to do all these
things with no pressure other than honest effort and the enjoyment of doing the
thing.

So what makes a sketch a sketch and separates it from what
is considered a serious attempt at creating art. I don’t know, maybe it should
be the other way around and one should bring that same mix of seriousness, play and
enjoyment to a finished piece.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

It’s very hard to keep up the habit of painting daily,
especially when I have so little time reserved for myself. Most of the times I’m
writing up these blog entries on my lunch hour at work and as the weather start’s
getting warmer I will be taking my watercolors outside on my lunch hour. When I
get home from work I spend time with the family, wind down and then make sure that the kids start getting ready for their
next day of school. We all go to bed by 8:30 P.M. and wake up at 5:00 A.M. I so
look forward to the weekends but I still need to put in that time painting
daily.

There are times when I get up at 3:00 in the morning and
with everyone else asleep I have up until
5:00 to paint either a project I
started on the weekend or sketch to keep up the practice of working daily.

Here are something’s that have helped me.

My digital camera. I have a couple of good
cameras but
mostly I rely on a Canon 21 megapixel with 12X optical
zoom. I
usually take this with me when I go sketching
outside and take a picture of
what it is I’m painting so t
hat I can finish it up later or use the sketch and the photo
reference for some larger work. I may also come across
something in my travels
that I don’t have time to stop and
sketch so I take photos to work on later. The watercolorsketches I have here are from photos I took of a crowd
scene. I picked out some faces that looked interesting to
me and used them when I was sketching at 3 A.M.

I carry an assortment of pencils, brushes,
pens
and sketchpads all the time. I sketch
on the trains traveling to and from work,
in the park on my lunch hour during
the spring and summer months and
maybe
sometimes I would stop by this
parkway near my home where I can
sit on a bench
and paint before the sun
goes down.

I buy lots of books on artist whose work
inspires me.
I read magazines, blogs and articles on the internet, I
join in
conversations about art and I strive to stay inspired.

Monday, April 8, 2013

I have been working in what is now my favorite graphics
Software, sketchbook Pro 6. I’ve also been recording what I’ve been working on
and posting it on my YouTube Channel.I
realize I hadn’t posted my latest video here although I did post the image.

Lately I’ve been posting tutorials using this program to
demonstrate how I would draw and paint the face from life and imagination. In
this video I discussed painting a face using my son Joshua as the model. I
worked from a photo I took of him wearing a hooded shirt. I thought he might
like that since it resembled a character in one of his favorite video games. I
took several photos of him originally intending to do a watercolor. I choose
one to do this video tutorial and hope to get to that watercolor soon.

About Me

I began studying art at the High School of Art and Design in New York City under Irwin Greenberg, or Greeny as his students called him. I went on to Parsons School of Design as well as taking classes at the Art Students League. I have had work published in Bloomberg Market Magazine,(three caricatures)and The Guide magazine.